Survivable security features for image replacement documents

Abstract

A security image embedded in an original printed document survives a conversion process into an image replacement document in binary image form having a commercial equivalency with the original printed document. The security image is embedded in a background at an approximately common visual density with the background so that the security image is at least partially indistinguishable from the background to the naked eye. Print elements of the security image are arranged differently than the print elements of the background and both are further arranged so that that upon conversion into the image replacement document in binary image form, the security image survives and the background drops out.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is (a) a nonprovisional of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 795,167, filed on Apr. 27, 2006, (b) a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 683,161 filed on Mar. 7, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT / US2005 / 031440, filed on Sep. 6, 2005, and (c) a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 895,822, filed Jul. 22, 2004, which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT / US2003 / 032159, filed Oct. 9, 2003, which are all hereby incorporated by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] This invention relates generally to document protection methods and products. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and products for printing or otherwise preparing original documents containing security features that are preserved in electronic reproductions of the documents (e.g., security features that survive the scanning process). In addition, the inve...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] The invention is useful for authenticating and validating a variety of documents that are converted into an electronic form, particularly a binary image form, for such purposes as conducting electronic transactions or managing an archive. These documents include financial instruments, corporate, tax and real estate transactions or other dealings, public records, and publications, which when originally printed are modified to incorporate security images that survive conversion into an electronic form as evidence that the resulting image replacement documents can be treated as commercial or legal equivalents. In fact, the invention allows newly printed documents, regardless of their contents, to be credentialed in such a way that the authenticity of electronic reproductions can be verified. The original printed documents, so credentialed, can be stored in an archive to authenticate electronic reproductions, or the authenticated electronic reproductions themselves can form a regularly accessible or historic archive.

[0014] One version of the invention is a document processing system in which a security image embedded in an original printed document survives a conversion process into an image replacement document in binary image form having a commercial or legal equivalency with the original printed document. The security image is embedded in a background of the original printed document at an approximately common visual density with the background so that the security image is at least partially indistinguishable from the background to the naked eye. Both the security image and the background are formed by an arrangement of relatively oriented print elements. The print elements of the security image are arranged at a different spatial frequency than the print elements of the background. The approximately common visual density is set in relation to the different spatial frequencies so that upon conversion into the image replacement document in binary image form, the security image is converted into a different ratio of dark vs. light pixels than the background and thereby becomes more readily distinguishable from the background.

[0036] Yet another version of the invention involves a method of creating authenticating image replacement documents as commercial equivalents of original printed documents. A security image is embedded in a background of an original printed document at an approximately common visual density with the background so that the security image is at least partially indistinguishable from the background to the naked eye. Both the security image and the background are formed by an arrangement of relatively oriented print elements. The print elements of the security image are arranged at a different spatial frequency than the print elements of the background. The common visual density is set in relation to the different spatial frequencies so that upon conversion of the original printed document into the image replacement document in a binary image form, the security image is converted into a different ratio of dark vs. light pixels than the background and thereby becomes more readily distinguishable from the background.

[0038] Among these embodiments, the invention extends security to image replacement documents intended to have commercial or legal equivalence to paper checks and other negotiable instruments or otherwise valuable printed documents. Security images that are hidden in the paper documents survive the conversion to image replacement documents in binary image form to authenticate the image replacement documents.

Problems solved by technology

However, security images contained on conventional commercial paper, such as original checks, do not survive the scanning process, i.e. they are not reproduced in the scanned copy of the original check as an image replacement document.

Accordingly, the originating bank cannot as effectively verify if the image replacement document returned from the depositing bank is a valid check.

The difficulty in verifying the authenticity of image replacement documents raises significant concerns over the potential for increased check fraud once the new “Check 21” regulations become more widely adopted.

While the “Check 21” regulations significantly speed the handling and collection of checks, the risk of unprosecutable check fraud losses is raised, because the conversion process destroys at least some of the evidence of fraud.

However, the current security images on conventional commercial documents do not survive the scanning process of the conventional scanners used in the banking industry.

The image replacement documents are transmitted and stored as binary images, which necessarily involves some loss of information, and the conventional security images are particularly vulnerable to such loss.

That is, the subtle printing details that enable known security images to thwart copying do not survive the conversion process into binary images of the commercial paper.

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